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Making Friends

What if I told you I made several friends because of a Youtube video? As strange as it might seem, especially given the contents of said video, it is absolutely true. What if I told you I made a friend because of the “Every…Simpsons…Ever” marathon on FXX? Again, it is absolutely true. If I told you that I have made friends because of this blog, you probably wouldn’t find that as crazy.

You never know how you are going to meet someone and establish a long-lasting relationship. A little over 10 years ago, I watched this video on Youtube for the first time. Warning, contains graphic language and is not safe for work.

Watching that video, led to me emailing a podcast. That email led to me regularly emailing that podcast. This resulted in my becoming friends with both of the hosts and a few of the other regular contributors. We connected through MySpace which as impossible as it might seem was very popular back then. Connections led to collaborations which has led to friendships that are still going strong a decade later. All that from a crazy Iron Sheik rant.

I met my friend Melissa through twitter. We struck up a friendship because of a tweet I had written about social media and making friends. That friendship will turn five years old this October. They have been five very good years, she is one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met. Also, she’s not above tormenting me for her own pleasure and I can respect that. And she has more blackmail information on me than most people which means I have to be nice to her…up to a point.

I also met my friend Mia through twitter. We were both watching the Every…Simpsons…Ever marathon and started trading quotes back and forth. We’d watch the show and tweet a line we liked and sometimes we’d tweet the same line to each other at the same time. Great minds think alike and so do the troubled ones.
That led to longer discussions about other topics. Mia was one of the first people I told about my dad’s cancer. When Ginny died, Mia was one of the first people to call me and see how I was doing. I truly appreciated that more than I can ever express in words. Getting to know her has been a pure joy because we are quite similar in personality. I’ve gotten a lot out of ‘The Simpsons’ over the years I wasn’t expecting a good friend to be one of those things but here we are. This friendship will turn two in August.

I met my friend Kelly almost a year ago on Twitter. Like with Mia, it started with a Simpsons quote. Looking at her twitter bio, I realized we had yet another thing in common. Her twitter bio simply said “visually impaired”. We started to talk about that and exchanged emails. We both have a bit of an odd-ball sense of humor and things have been good for almost a year. She has also been there with ideas and questions on my writing and I always keep her informed as to the status of my father’s fight against cancer.

I met Megan because she left a comment on my blog. I decided to read her blog and liked what I read. We exchanged lengthy comments on each other’s blogs and then took our conversation to Facebook. Mia and I aren’t even friends on Facebook yet which is a little weird but what are you gonna do? We talked every day for awhile but now life has gotten a little more hectic so we don’t speak as often. But I’ve learned a lot from her about South Africa and she has offered helpful comments on my writing.

It is still early but it appears the process is going to repeat itself. Jena left a comment on my blog and as is my custom when someone does that I try and look at their blog. I read her introductory post and it turned out that we shared common interests as well. I highly recommend her blog. She writes in a very expressive way that is quite unique but very relatable.

I never feel as though I am without friends. It is true that most of my friends are some distance away from me. It is also true that none of the people I have mentioned in this post are people I have ever met in person. While I would like to change that one day with any or all of them it is hardly a guarantee that will happen. I could also write an entire post (but I won’t) on how it is much easier for me to befriend women over The Internet than in person.

I think the point of this is that you never know how a friendship is going to start. It could be because of a crazy Iron Sheik video. It could be because you like the same Simpsons episodes from twenty years ago. It could even be because of something you wrote on your blog that led someone else to leave a comment. It is one of the unpredictable facts of life and unlike most things that I can’t plan for, I actually enjoy this one.

Casey’s Song of the Day

I haven’t posted a song in quite some time. I am doing this today and dedicating it to my friends. Also, ‘The Golden Girls’ still rules: